main navigation

Storytelling: Can We Be More Adventurous? (Jan 22, 2015)

I’m speaking on a panel about Storytelling for the Children’s Media Foundation (a fantastic organisation that champions the importance and sustainability of quality media for kids in the UK and beyond) and the agenda has been set to challenge ourselves as storytellers to be more adventurous.

For me, I’m interested in the purity of voice and protecting the singular vision behind each story. While I very much accept (and enjoy) that making media is a collaborative effort, I know from experience that the best art is made with a strong vision. As someone who plays in multiple sandboxes (books, tv, digital, film), I cherish the role of author in my fiction writing because it’s the purest form of creation; one where I don’t have to ask for permission to create. When I start with books, I honour the characters, tell their story, and build their world. The adaptation process to other media requires more cooks in the kitchen (I do believe in the power of collaborative creativity) and it’s critical that the artist is the one adding the spices.

“There are many influences on storytelling, from those that have to do with the craft – such as who the audience is and which medium or platform is being used to tell the tale – to those that have to do with commercial realities.

Do financing, commissioning, “received wisdom,” safety concerns – a plethora of pressures that have nothing to do with telling a story – put a stranglehold on our storytelling?

Does second-guessing what will or won’t work commercially limit our ability to do something different, to break through – to tell stories that are uniquely ours?

How can we use the changing media landscape to take more risks with our stories? And in doing so, how can we cater for a more diverse audience?”